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Wednesday, 30 October 2013

Did Halloween creep up on you this year? Stuck for a costume? Try a few of our favourite picture book characters with this quick and easy how-to.

The Nutbrown Hares
Is Guess How Much I Love You? a favourite in your house? Try dressing up as everybody’s favourite father-son duo, the Nutbrown Hares. Pair a brown jumper with brown slacks or track pants, and add a set of ears. Don’t have ears lying around the house? A piece of cardboard (the inside of a cereal box works well), a brown texta, and a couple of slivers of sticky tape and you’re all set.

Where’s Wally?
If you have a few little explorers in your house this Halloween, celebrate with their adventurousness with a Where’s Wally? costume. Pick up a red-and-white striped shirt (or make one with an old tee and a red texta), don a pair of blue jeans, slip on some glasses, and you're ready to go. Want to go the whole hog? Take it a step further by adding a red beanie and one of Wally's accessories, such as a walking stick or binoculars. (Not into red and white? Pick up a black and yellow shirt and black jeans, and you've got an instant Odwal.)

Goldilocks
Have a yen for a costume that’s just right? Try Goldilocks. A blonde wig and a dress, accompanied by a teddy bear or set of plastic bowls, and you’re all set. Or have a little fun, and try one of the variations listed in Allan and Jessica Ahlberg’s version of Goldilocks.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt Bear & Company
This one is especially easy if you have a few children. For the bear, start with a brown outfit (as with the Nutbrown Hares). Add a pair of beary ears – they can be cut out of cardboard, or fashioned out of any left over fabric that’s fuzzy and brown. Draw a black nose on to your bear with face paint (eyeliner also works in a pinch).

Next, get the whole family involved – sing the words to We're Going on a Bear Huntas you walk about on Halloween. Or, if you’re so inclined, try matching the other members of your party to the characters in the book: all the outfits are fairly simple, and you probably already have the makings of the family costumes in your wardrobe.

Wednesday, 23 October 2013

Peta Jinnath Andersen
is an Online Consultant for Walker Books Australia. Her absolute,
forever-and-ever favourite children's books are Guess How Much I Love You, A Bit Lost, Howl's Moving Castle, A Wrinkle in Time, A Monster Calls, and Winnie-the-Pooh.

The first picture book I read alone was Green Eggs and Ham. The first one I read to my son – and still read – was Owl Babies. (We even dressed up as Mummy Owl and Bill for Halloween one year.) The first one he read was Hug, swiftly followed by Tall. (Though it does help that these books have very, very few words.)

But how do we choose those first books? Is it that our parents or grandparents give them to us? Is it that we’re innately drawn to a concept, sound, or rhyme? My son had intense separation anxiety, and found Owl Babies soothing, because he could repeat “I want my mummy!” and feel vindicated. (He still tells me, sometimes, that he feels like the little owl and wants me to come home early.) And yet, I chose that book for him, only a few days after I learnt I was pregnant. My mother says I loved repeating the rhymes in Green Eggs and Ham, and playing with the rhythm of the text. At home, we read poetry and sing songs (like Guinea Pig Town and We’re Going on a Bear Hunt) for the rhythm, which my son has developed an appreciation thereof. Is that because of me, or is that because of him? Is it because I recall reading rhyme with my mother and shouting it to the sky in the park?

I’m sure there’s no concrete answer to what makes us love a given book. Book love is existential,

really – it’s unique and experiential and dependent on so, so many factors and ideas. But isn’t it marvellous to think about? To question why we might love a picture book? To think about creating memories with our children, grandchildren, even great-grandchildren?
Which books have stayed with you? Which books make you smile every time you think of them?

Wednesday, 16 October 2013

When a little ghost goes slip-sliding down the
hallway, he suddenly hears ... a groan! Turns out it’s only a friendly mummy,
who shuffles along with the ghost, until they encounter ... a monster! As the
cautious explorers continue, they find a surprise at every turn - and add
another adorably ghoulish friend to their tally. But you’ll never guess who is
the scariest creature in the house!

And Then Comes Halloween, Tom Brenner and Holly Meade As soon as geese fly south, children take autumn's
cue to start their preparations: it’s almost Halloween! With poetic language
and vivid collage illustrations, Tom Brenner and Holly Meade follow all the
familiar rituals, from hanging paper skeletons to carving pumpkins, from
costume-making to trick-or-treating. Halloween lovers will be eager to grab a
bag or bucket and join them on this lively and lyrical journey.

Ever since Ben was a baby, his parents have concocted
wild costumes for him on Halloween. He has been a magician’s rabbit (complete
with a giant top hat), a bunch of grapes, even a slice of Swiss cheese. Ben has
hated every one of these costumes. But now that he is seven, he decides to take
matters into his own hands and construct a costume that makes this the best
Halloween of all! The award-winning author of The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan
Toomey and the illustrator of the Martha books have conjured a very amusing
Halloween treat.

The witch has hidden a trick and a treat in her
magical kitchen cupboards! Which one you find depends on how you open the
doors. Whether it's frogspawn or popcorn, lollipops or rabbit plops, there are
hilarious rhymes to discover inside in this innovative novelty book!

Wednesday, 2 October 2013

Leonard S. Marcus is the editor of Show Me A Story: Why Picture Books Matter. In compelling interviews, twenty-one top authors and illustrators reveal their inside
stories on the art of creating picture books. Read more here.